Lester Burnham - Representation

Representation of Lester Burnham

Lester is the main character in the film 'American Beauty' which was released in 1999.

My first impressions of Lester were that he lived a very subdued man who is single. Also, he looks very dull as his bedroom is all the same dull colour with no real life about it. Lester appears to be very discontent with his life from the very start of the film. Then, the theory I first thought was being backed up as he then went into the shower and explained the highlight of his day was when he jacked off and from then on it went downhill. However, we came to find out that Lester had a wife which came as a shock to me as I had already painted up a picture of Lester and in that picture he was single, although Lester doesn't like his wife. Lester speaks about his wife in a very negative which shows he is in a passionless and loveless relationship. Lester's posture is very poor as he slouches, he is also very lazy and lacks lots of confidence.

His family do not respect him at all he should be the man of the family and be respected and be in control but he is not respected and also isn't in control as his wife wears the trousers in the relationship. Another thing I picked up on with Lester is that he is trapped. He is always shown behind bars or enclosed something which is very good use of camera angles. Also, this even happens at his work as well as his own home. Lester's voice has a monotonous tone to it and on the whole is a very sad person. However, i believe Lester's life is about to take a turn for the better.